10 Years Later…

10 years ago, I made the first post here on Zone Base.

I say “first post” because I actually started building the site back in 2014. Then it just… sat there for a while, waiting for me to get over the self-doubt and just do it.

So I took baby steps. At first, I focused only on Transformers before eventually branching out into other things.

I was nervous.

Unsure of myself.

That probably sounds silly now, but it’s the truth. I knew what I wanted to make—I just wasn’t entirely sure how to make it. So I took my time.

That first Halloween, it was just “spooky” Transformers content—mostly bios. The first year of Zone Base was a lot of experimenting, mixed with the occasional post that did surprisingly well.

In 2017, I started using the slogan “Transformers and Other Strangeness,” inspired by a copy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness role playing game I’ve had since I was a kid. Not long after that, the “robots / monsters / misadventure ハロウィン” idea clicked into place and became the permanent identity of the site. 

Somehow, this little podunk site became the most stubborn thing I’ve ever done. And I’ve kept it going for 10 years now.

In a way, it’s me firmly flipping the bird to the world.

10 years—and millions of views—later… I’m still flipping that bird.

And a lot of you are flipping it with me.

Thank you.